Sunday, March 2, 2014

1857

The
relics are of Indian soldiers from the 26th Native Infantry Regiment
deployed at Mian Mir, near Lahore, in 1857 which had mutinied after the
Revolt of 1857
began. On July 30, 1857 soldiers of the regiment under the leadership
of Parkash Pandy killed a British major and a sergeant major and headed
towards Ajnala town where they were overpowered and arrested by a large
British contingent.

Around 200 soldiers were put in a cage-like
room in Ajnala where they died of asphyxiation while the remaining 282
were shot and their bodies were dragged and thrown in the well which
later came to be known as Kalian Wala Khu (well of blacks). Later the
local gurdwara management changed its name to Shaheedan Wala Khu.

Sarkaria said if
government didn't provide them sufficient land for raising memorial,
they would keep the relics in the gurdwara precincts till they gathered
enough money to buy the land and erect a memorial. After that they would
cremate the relics and immerse the ashes in Goindwal Sahib and
Haridwar.

Apart from the remains 70 coins from 1830 —
1835, two British medals, three gold balls and an amulet were recovered
during the excavation by the Gurdwara management, local volunteers and
historians without government support.
regards